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Fiduciary Governance
The Senate Appropriations Committee on June 25 in a 16-14 vote approved the fiscal year 2016 Labor, Health and Human Services (LHHS) funding bill, which denies funding that would enable the Department of Labor (DOL) to implement the fiduciary rule.Committee Chairman Thad Chochran (R-Miss.) hailed...
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Appropriations subcommittees on Capitol Hill — in the House and now in the Senate — have taken a shot at blocking the Labor Department’s fiduciary proposal by denying funding for the measure.House BillOn June 24, the House of Representatives’ Appropriations Committee approved a fiscal year 2016...
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The public comments the Department of Labor is receiving on its proposed fiduciary rule already are having an effect, Labor Secretary Thomas Perez said at June 23 Brookings Institution forum in Washington, D.C.Perez said that among the comments they have received are expressions of concern...
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A House bill would stop the Department of Labor’s fiduciary proposal by cutting off funding to implement the measure.The measure was included by the House Appropriations Committee in the draft fiscal year 2016 Labor, Health and Human Services funding bill, and the Labor, Health and Human Services,...
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The June 17 Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee hearing provided ample illustration that the debate on the Department of Labor’s (DOL) fiduciary proposal is far from over. DOL Secretary Thomas E. Perez appeared before the subcommittee of the House Education and the Workforce...
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The Department of Labor’s Employee Benefit Security Administration has announced that it will hold public hearings on the fiduciary proposal on Aug. 10, 11 and 12 — and 13, if necessary. It also has extended the period for submitting comments on the proposed rule and exceptions to July 21.The...
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The Department of Labor intends to finalize its re-proposed rule defining a fiduciary in May of next year, Groom Law Group Chairman Steve Saxon said on June 8. Saxon made his remarks at the SPARK Institute’s annual conference in Washington, D.C.That timing is fueled by political considerations....
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For those keeping score at home, a total of 36 individuals and organizations submitted comments on the Department of Labor’s April 14 fiduciary proposal during the first month of the comment period.The DOL’s Employee Benefits Security Administration has created a “public comments” page on its...
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Will the third time be the charm? House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline (R-Minn.) and Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee Chairman Phil Roe (R-Tenn.) in a June 2 letter to Labor Secretary Thomas Perez have again repeated a request for additional information...
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The Bipartisan Policy Center convened what at least one participant termed a “policy wonk throwdown” in the nation’s capital May 27. The subject? The Department of Labor’s fiduciary proposal.The actual title of the event was “Champions, Critics and Consequences of a New Fiduciary Standard,” and it...
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The recent Department of Labor (DOL) study finding deficiencies in audits of employee benefit plans does not translate to a statement about how viable those plans are, says the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA). In a May 28 statement, AICPA said that “none of the quality issues identified by the...
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Physician, heal thyself. A study the Department of Labor (DOL) did of its audits of employee benefits plans shows that the department needs to improve the quality of those audits.In fact, such audits today are more likely to be deficient than they were a decade ago. Bloomberg BNA reports that the...
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ASPPA Executive Director and CEO Brian Graff opened ASPPA’s first-ever virtual conference May 14 with a discussion of “the elephant in the room” — the Department of Labor’s (DOL) reproposal concerning the definition of who is a fiduciary.Graff noted that the proposed regulation is “mammoth,” but...
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ASPPA’s first-ever virtual conference on May 14 provided its 600+ attendees more than critical information on important issues — it also afforded them an ideal opportunity to gain the expert speakers’ insights on particular situations and matters.DOL Fiduciary RuleIt’s no surprise that the...
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Those looking for a bright line of illumination from the U.S. Supreme Court on fiduciary responsibilities in a 401(k) revenue-sharing case were likely disappointed May 18.The case, Tibble v. Edison International, argued before the nation’s High Court on Feb. 24, dealt with the application of ERISA’...
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The Department of Labor (DOL) has announced a brief extension of the comment period on its fiduciary reproposal — and has set a date for a public hearing.The comment period for what the DOL calls the Conflict of Interest Notice of Proposed Rulemaking has been extended by 15 days — from 75 to 90...
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Legislation introduced recently in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate would require retirement plans to include an “annuity equivalent” on participant statements.In the House, Reps. Luke Messer (R-Ind.) and Mark Pocan (D-Wisc.) introduced the Lifetime Income Disclosure Act (H.R. 2317...
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If life gives you lemons, make lemonade. And if the constitution prevents pension reform, make the constitution work for it. That appears to be the message of Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner (R), whose office suggested as much as soon as the Illinois Supreme Court upended the state pension reform law....
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“The big picture is huge. It is very much a radical reshaping of our landscape at this point.” With that, David N. Levine, Principal, Law Group, Chartered, opened the recent ASPPA webcast, “The Conflict of Interest Proposal: How it Works and What it Means.” Pete Swisher, Senior Vice President and...
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The DOL’s ERISA Advisory Council is set to seek solutions to difficulties plan participants experience in understanding their choices in pension risk transfer transactions. The goal of the DOL’s 2015 Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans is to create model notices and...
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